Sitting in the Shadows
by Raouldehadleyfraser
Summary: Hades stood at the very edge of the celebration. That, in itself, was not unusual. Despite all the help he had given his brothers in recent years, courtesy of one annoying brat of a demigod, he was more comfortable in the shadows. What he did not expect though, was for said annoying demigod to come and sit down beside him, watching the festivities from afar.


A/N: Okay so i don't write anything for a while and when I do it's for a completely different fandom. Sorry to everyone who follows me for my Musketeers fics, feeling no muse for them at the moment. And I just finished HoH and wanted to explore how he feels about the scene where (spoilers) he nearly chokes Misery in her own river of poison and Annabeth stopping him. This is set after the books (like as in when the war will be won and everyone will be happy. Shhhh and let me pretend that rick won't be evil.) Also a less dickish Hades in this.

Hades stood at the very edge of the celebration. That, in itself, was not unusual. Despite all the help he had given his brothers in recent years, courtesy of one annoying brat of a demigod, he was more comfortable in the shadows.

What he did not expect though, was for said annoying demigod to come and sit down beside him, watching the festivities from afar. He turned to observe his nephew, and what he found in the boy's face unsettled him a little. He seemed far too old, and far too young all at once.

"Uncle" He greeted quietly, giving Hades a small nod. He would never admit it out loud, but something in his chest warmed to be greeted as such, rather than Lord Hades.

"Should you not be joining in?" He asked, indicating with his head to where gods and demigods and all sorts of nature spirits were carousing joyfully.

"Perhaps I should... but I don't know if I can be the person they need me to be, at the moment. Look at them all, uncle. They pity me. I haven't... Annabeth and I... we couldn't talk about it to anyone. And they just look so _sorry_ for us, and they don't have any right to be - not when they don't understand." Hades raised an eyebrow casually. Poseidon definitely wanted to know everything that had befallen his son, and perhaps he would gain a favour he could cash in later if he could find out for his younger brother.

"No, and they shan't unless you tell, and you won't tell because you know they won't understand even then - yes?" Smirking faintly, Perseus nodded, but the mischief that Hades was so used to seeing in the boy's eyes had faded - no, it was more like it had been stamped out. "If you would tell me just one thing, young Perseus - what was the worst of it?"

Sea green eyes snapped up to meet his own, and he could see in them shock, vulnerability and... was that _shame_ he could detect?

"Honestly?" He asked, then took a long breath and ran a hand through his hair, staring out to sea before returning his gaze. "It was when, for a moment, Annabeth was terrified of me."

That had not been the answer that the lord of the Underworld had expected, not by a long shot. Still, he would listen further.

"Why so?"

"You know what I like about you, Uncle Hades, you don't talk half as much as everyone else. Anyway," He continued after receiving a glare. "I... we met Misery. She tried to choke us in a river of poison." Something in the back of Hades' mind caught on, but the god still frowned at him.

"Surely you should be dead, then?"

"There were a lot of times we should have been dead. Me especially. But that's not the point is. Point is, I had an idea. A crazy idea, no way it could possibly work, right? The idea that hey, there must be water in this stuff _somewhere_" He paused, gauging his uncle's reaction, and when he was met with only a nod, he continued. "Then I thought, nah, dad's god of the Sea, not all liquids, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to try, seeing as we were dead anyway. So... the best way I can describe the feeling is... like glass, shattering. Something snapped. And... I w.. _wanted_ to choke her in her own poison, I wanted-"

"What, revenge?" Hades asked gently. He could see that it was a struggle for Perseus, who had always been so damnably _noble_, to admit this

"It wasn't even that. It was just this overwhelming need to destroy her completely. And I could have... _would_ have done it if Annabeth hadn't begged me to stop and made me promise never to do it again. She looked at me like _I_ was the monster, for a just moment, and that was the most terrifying thing of all. I don't know whether I felt betrayed or as if I was betraying her."

Hades pondered this for a few moments, surprisingly unperturbed by his nephew's admittance of, well, rather considerable power. It did not matter to him because he had know this Perseus for years, and understood why he did things. He quietly contemplated the boy's words and for a long while, he said nothing.

Just when they heard the others calling for Percy to come back to join them, Hades caught his arm gently as the young man - he could hardly call him a boy now, after all this. Meeting his eyes, Hades told him;

"If you ever feel like that again, seek me, nephew, and we shall talk." He placed a hand on Percy's shoulder and squeezed it gently, as if to say _I understand_, and indeed, that _was_ his intention. He then slipped into the shadows, resolving not to tell his brothers anything of this conversation. Not unless something happened which meant that he had to. But as long as Perseus kept his promise to Annabeth - and a promise from him to that girl was a thousand times more binding than an oath on the river Styx, there was no need for Zeus to know anything. And Poseidon... he had been worried enough about his son as it was. No, this would just be their little secret, nephew to uncle, rather than demigod to god. Something about that made Hades feel a little more human. That thought made the Lord of the Underworld's mouth curl upwards into a wry smile.


End file.
